Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault and Josh Giddey met with the media following the first day of training camp on Tuesday.
This comes a day after the Thunder held their 2022 media day, where every player outside of Chet Holmgren and Ty Jerome spoke with the media.
Daigneault spoke for the first time about Jerome after it was announced on Monday that the fourth-year guard would not participate in media day and training camp as he and the team make the next decision on his future.
Here are some of the biggest quotes and takeaways from the first day of practice.
Mark Daigneault on Ty Jerome
“That was a decision that came to where it is now between Sam and Ty’s representation and this is the resolution that they landed on. Very grateful for Ty and his time here.
“We take a lot of pride not only in how our players develop while they’re between our walls, but also in what they do after they leave. Not every player is going to play here forever, just the nature of the NBA. But we really, truly care about our guys and we want them to — especially if they start here or they’re here early in their careers, which most of these guys are, including Ty.
“We want them to go on and have success and we want their success to be because of some of the habits and the mindsets, fundamentals that they learned here and so we’re rooting for all those guys that have kind of grown up here. He’s one of them. And like I said, smart player, competitive player, tough player that will have a good career and I’m very confident that.”
I asked Thunder HC Mark Daigneault his thoughts on the Ty Jerome situation
Here’s his full response: pic.twitter.com/cvOrVOnwaI
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) September 27, 2022
Team anthems
Daigneault revealed that everybody on the team gets to choose two songs to play during training camp. For Daigneault, those two songs were “Thunder Road” and “Badland” by Bruce Springsteen.
Mark Daigneault said that everybody on the team got to pick 2 songs/anthems to play during practice
Daigneault (unsurprisingly) chose 2 Bruce Springsteen songs
“Thunder Road” & “Badlands” pic.twitter.com/jOx8rKh76S
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) September 27, 2022
Josh Giddey's relationship with Chip Engelland
Josh Giddey spoke publicly for the first time since the Thunder brought up shooting guru Chip Engelland to their staff on media day and spoke glowingly about him.
That was the case once again on Tuesday when asked about what Engelland has specifically worked with him on.
“He’s a genius at what he does and I trust the things he has in place for me,” said Giddey.
Instead of reworking his entire shot, Engelland has began by making minor tweaks do it, such as Giddey no longer flicking his thumb whenever he shoots the ball.
Josh Giddey said Chip Engelland didn’t join the staff to restructure his shot and it’s only been minor adjustments
One of those adjustments include him no longer flicking the ball with his thumb
“He’s a genius at what he does and I trust the things he has in place for me.”
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) September 27, 2022
Best hair on the team
Several Thunder players were asked during media day who had the best hair on the team and Giddey was surprisingly left out on most of their answers.
Some popular answers included Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Jalen Williams and Jaylin Williams.
Giddey was shocked when he learned about this on Tuesday and said he might have to consider getting a mohawk to get the respect his hair deserves.
“I feel a bit disrespected,” joked Giddey.
Here’s Josh Giddey’s reaction to being snubbed by some of his teammates over not having the best hair on the team (asked by @BasketballGuruD): pic.twitter.com/63hziGpxPy
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) September 27, 2022
